1. Field of Invention
The general field of the invention is hand crafted beaded jewelry, and more specifically, the crafting of these projects on a loom. The general mode of operation of a beading loom is well known to practitioners of the art and is described below.
2. Background Art
In the general construction of a loomed beaded jewelry item, a series of separate threads are attached to each end of the loom longitudinally to form a beading surface. These longitudinal threads are referred to as “warp threads”. The number of warp threads attached is dependant upon the number of beads in a single row of the project to be crafted. There is always one more warp thread than the number of beads in that single row, i.e. if the there are 18 beads in a single row of the project to be crafted, there must be 19 warp threads attached.
An additional thread is then attached to the front area of the loom and a needle is threaded onto the other end of this thread. This thread is referred to as the “weft thread” (or, informally—the “beading thread”.) All of the beads in a single row are strung onto the weft thread which is then passed underneath the warp threads. Each bead is then pressed up into the spaces between the warp threads (one bead into each space). The needle is then passed back in the opposite direction through the holes in the beads and over the warp threads, thereby securing the beads to the warp threads. This process is then repeated the number of times necessary to reach the desired length of the project.
Upon completion of the project, the project is removed from the loom. The remaining ends of the warp threads (19 on each end—for a total of 38 threads in this example) must then be hand woven back into the project in order not to be visible in the final product. This is a difficult and time consuming process which deters many people from engaging in this craft art.
This invention solves the specific problem of having the remaining ends of the warp threads and does not require that they be woven back into the project.